brianpribis

[in an interview is it o.k. to make known you do not enjoy working nights - but are willing to if necessary to obtain the job?] I don't think we should be jerks or anything but I also don't think we should be pushovers either. If you can't work nights don't. As soon as you say, "Well, I don't really like it but..." You might as well have said, "Sure, I love nights, put me on all nights for the rest of my life!" I know, the hospital should ''respect" your desires, but lets not forget, they have a job to do and money to make and if that means they have to hurt someones feelings in the process you can be darn sure they will do it. They NEED you. Remember that. If they won't take you that is their loss. But don't you dare say you will do something you know in the long wrong is only going to hurt you and even the hospital (when you fry like a crispy piece of bacon). If they say it is their policy that all new comers work nights then get them to commit to how long IN writing and hold them to it. It isn't unreasonable. If they were taking on a contract nurse they would have to do the same thing. My policy in jobs like that is NOT to say, "I won't work nights", but to say, "I will work every shift but nights." Let them know you are not inflexible. But also let them see you have rules for employment just as they do. b--

Man, I worked nights once. I worked for six weeks and thought I was going to die! I could only sleep four hours and nothing I did would change that. I hated it. I finally had to go back to days or evenings. I don't mind 3-11 really. I think I could rotate though. I mean, someone has to take care of those people through the night. Yet I would be willing to go the extra mile and work some nights if others would do it too. In other words, I would have no problem if a hospital said their policy was that EVERYONE rotated shifts. But if that isn't a hospital's policy I wouldn't take the job without them knowing that I WILL NOT work nights except at my discretion. PERIOD. If the manager comes up and says, "Brian, we are short tonight, can you stay and do a double?" Hey, I'm your man! But that is it. b--

[so the next time you complain about reusing medical equipment take a look at your health insurance premiums, take a look at your bills if you had to pay cash. ask yourself would you be willing to do some of the labor yourself to save some money. ] That was the point of the post I wrote earlier. Here we are telling patients they have to carry around used urin cups and while those kind of reuses sound neat (or horrific) they really are not where the problem lies. There is so much overspending by doctors and hospitals that, if fully known, would make saving money on a few reusables look silly. Just check out the income of some of the hospital administrators. I am all for people making good money but I do have a problem when a small city hospital pays the hospital president (or whatever they call him/her) over $250,000 plus a load of beni's while at the same time complaining that they can't afford to pay the nurses. As to insurance and premiums I would be glad to pay less and do more work! My premium (if I could afford to pay it) would be around $500/mo (not to mention a deduct of $1000). That is the other thing about all this, in situations where people have seen the sort of petty cut backs that we have seen on this continent they haven't seen the savings passed onto the patient (o.k. lets not get into HMO's and managed health care here!). (Stepping down off the box now ;-) b--

Hey, those were like totally far out!

O.k., since we are talking about specimen cups: I was a CNA in a nursing home years back and at about 7pm the people came around with snacks for the residents. I decided to have some fun. I went and got a specimen cup (new not reused!) and filled it with lemonade. I then went to the nursing station and told the nurses that I had just emptied so-n-sos foley bag and the urin didn't look right. They all looked at it. I then said it didn't smell right, and I uncapped it and smelled it (they smelled it too). I then said it didn't taste right either and drank it real quick like. He he he. First they screamed, looked green, and then, when they figured out what I had done, came after me. (Before one of you smarties say something about wasting a perfectly good specimen cup, it was being used for theraputic purposes, a good laugh during a hard night ;-)

[shows how old you are, EH? Books aren't the only source of learning, young Brian.] Oh yea! Maybe it does and myabe it doesn't. Gosh, I think I will relax to some music, now where did I put that LP?

[And back in the day...there were superbugs, just that now we have meds to treat them, so they are no longer so super.] EH!???? You need to get back to some of those books you were suppose to have read before graduating. Holy smokes, if I didn't see it with my own eyes I would have thought this was a quote from the 1960s or 70s!

We are nurses. That is we are medical professionals charged with the awsome responsibility of protecting our pt from harm and promoting their well being(health). ANYTHING that will go back on those two things should and must be avoided (yes, even cooties!). Now, the fact is our health care system in the US is going down the tubes in a flash. Many people cannot even afford health care that really need it. That forces many to really on the government for coverage. Costs MUST be cut. They just have to. However, how can someone possibley justify reusing despossible equipment in the US when so much gross over spending is happening elsewhere? There is a reason that insurance for my family would cost me (with the employer picking up some of the tab) almost $500.00 / month with a $1000 deductable and it ain't because doctors are using too many urin cups! Point in case, my grandfather was in the hospital once. One of the doctors (not one in charge of his care) cam by, popped his head in the room and said, "How we doing today Mr. Pribis?" Sure enough, a consultation charge showed up from this doctor on the bill for a one time visit. This is small potatos compared to what is going on out there. In the end, who is suffering because of the overspending? The Doctors? The Hospital VIPs? The Administrators? No, the patients. The people we are responsible for. We are not just there to heal the big diseases and take care of the badly injured, we are there to comfort the dying and to give the occassional back massage too (do they still teach that in school?). The whole pt., remember? (Sorry, cost cutting on the little things to hide the gross fleecing on the big things gets me a bit fired up).